


Silver Fox

by orphan_account



Series: Silver Fox [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: (duh), Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Drinking, Drunken Flirting, F/M, Past Abuse, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-05-29 13:26:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6376741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry it's so short. I've been having writers block and its just very annoying. My family is coming down this week so there won't be an update next Sunday.</p>
        </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Aria Arietti's POV

I woke up feeling like I was choking. I started hitting the door in front of me and it opened with a hiss. I took a step out and fell onto the cold floor in between mine and Nate's pods. I sat there and took a couple of deep, shaky, breaths before I got up onto my feet and touched the glass to his pod.

“I’ll get Shaun back, I promise.” Anger and disbelief lacing my words. _’This can't be happening ’_

I started checking all of the pods. _’I can't be the only one’_. When I realized I was I got out of the vault as fast as I could. I have to get him back. I promised Nate's sister that I would keep him safe. As the vault platform clicked in place I looked around in shock. Everything I knew, everything I loved about the world, was dead. I slowly made my way down the hill to Sanctuary. I could see a Mr.Handy trimming the sticks in front of our house and ran over. When Codsworth asked where Nate and Shaun were it surprised me how calm I was talking. It still felt like a dream to her. He told her that there were people in Concord and they headed inside the house.

I went into our room and looked around. Most of my clothes were destroyed so I opened the safe under the bed. I was extreamly glad that Nate had made packs for everyone incase something happened and we needed to leave quickly. I grabbed the skinny jeans, combat boots, a plain green tee, and got dressed. I fixed my makeup before I went into the garage. I walked over to the beside other side of my workbench and kicked the bottom of the wall. The door popped open and I grabbed more ammo for 10mm I had picked up in the vault. I stuffed it into the backpack in the bottom of the closet and threw it over my shoulders. 

I headed out after telling Codsworth that I’d be back soon. When I got to the old Red Rocket down the street from Sanctuary a german sheppard ran up to me and circled around my feet happily. I reached down and scratched behind his ear.

“You all alone out here, boy?” He barked in response. I smiled a little “Wanna come with me?” He started running ahead of me towards Concord. I started running after him and we slowed down to a walk when gunshots started going off. 

We got to the main street and saw a bunch of people shooting at the museum. When I walked up to them and shot some of them as they tried to shoot at us. It was nice to know that after 210 years my aim hasn’t gone to shit.

“Thanks, could you come up here and help us? There's a laser rifle over there. Grab it and come up!” A man shouted from the balcony and disappeared inside. I grabbed the rifle and quietly opened the door. I shot as many as I could and headed up to the second level. I took out as many as I could, the dog taking the rest out. 

I stepped out onto a walkway and a guy who was banging on a door turned and shot at me. I felt a stinging sensation in my left arm but still managed to kill him. The door he was banging on opened and revealed the man from the balcony.

“Thank you, without your help I don’t think we would of lasted long. My name is Preston Garvey. Last of the Minutemen” I stepped into the room he was in and shook his outstretched hand.

“Arietti, Aria Arietti. Who were those people?” I pointed over my shoulder at the dead body. Preston furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“They were raiders. You must be new here. I thought they were everywhere but apparently not.” His eyes went down to my arm. “Looks like one of them got you.”

I nodded and looked down at my arm. The bullet must of hit bone or something because there was no exit wound in my shoulder. “Here sit down and I can clean it for you.” He gestured towards the couch where an old woman was sitting. There was a man and woman in the corner and he was comforting her. _’Must be husband and wife’_ I assumed. Another man was leaning over and typing on a computer.

I walked over and sat on the couch. Preston sat beside me and started cleaning the wound. “So where are you from?” He asked, glancing up at me. 

“Here, I just woke up recently after being lied to and frozen for over 200 years. I’m one of the only two that made it out. The other is a baby, three months old.” I was staring at the computer behind the man on the far side of the room. I heard Preston chuckle and looked at him. I winced as he pulled the bullet out.

“If you didn’t want to tell us you could've just said so.” He stuck a stimpack into my arm and sat back. I just stared at him. “Could you help us out with something?” He asked. 

“Sure, you helped me out with my arm.” Preston smiled and looked at the man in front of the terminal. 

“Sturges, do you mind filling her in?” Struges turned away from the computer and leaned back onto the desk. 

“There’s more raiders around here so we need help clearing them out. There’s a set of power armour on the roof next to a fallen vertibird. You’ll need a fusion core to use it and there’s one down in the basement. It’s behind a security gate and none of us can get in there. There should be a minigun on the bird, I bet with the power armour you could just rip it off the side.” I thought about it for a moment. Nate had been able to use one when he was in the military. I had only seen them and always wanted to try one out. I nodded and Sturges smiled. The old lady beside me introduced herself and told me about how she was happy that dogmeat found a new family. I got up and made dogmeat stay and protect them before heading to the basement.

The terminal on the security gate was very easy to unlock, the door buzzed and unlatched and I grabbed the core before ran up to the roof, taking the stairs two at a time. I could heard shouting when I got up to the roof and shooting erupted. I put the core in the power armour and hopped in, casually striding up to the mini gun and yanking it off it’s stand. I took down as many as I could from the roof before a deathclaw came bursting out of the ground down the street. Nate had told me about those things and how he was always uneasy when he was near them, even if they were in a cage. I started shooting at it as it ran around and killed the remaining raiders. I jumped onto the ground with a thud and started shooting at it, slowly walking towards it, feeling like a complete badass with adrenalin pumping through my veins. When it fell I stomped back inside the building and got out of the suit. I walked over to Preston and Mama Murphy.

“You guys alright?” I asked. Preston smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, you and that deathclaw took out everyone.” He chuckled. My eyes went wide and I furrowed my brows. 

“Damn!” I whisper shouted. Preston chuckled some more and I could hear Sturges laughing lightly along with him.

“The suit got damaged a little. When we get to Sanctuary I could fix this up for you before you head out.” Sturges said as he examined the armor.

“I’m actually staying up in Sanctuary. Codsworth is up there, He’d be happy to have company while I’m out.” Preston nodded his head and smiled.

“We’ll let's head out before it gets dark.” Preston said as he started walking to the door and everyone got up and followed. I climbed back into the power armour and walked behind them. We walked up to Sanctuary and Dogmeat ran ahead. I put the armour into the parking garage across the street ou… my house and started fixing the dents in the armour. I could hear footsteps come up behind me.

“Need any help?” The watcher said after a while. I reconized the voice as Sturges’s because of the accent.

“No I think I got it. You can look it over if you want. The hydraulics need a little fixing. My guess is that it hasn't been used in years. I never learned how to work with that.” I stood up and faced him. He had a small smile on his face.

“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do. I was wondering if you could help me out with something. If we’re gonna be living here we need it to be comfortable. Some beds, food, defences, and a water purifier would be mighty nice.” I nodded my head. 

“Oh, what about pipes that can bring water to the houses like before the bombs? And a water heater. A hot shower sounds really nice right now. Oooh or a bath!” I said. His smile grew and he chuckled. 

“You should write a list of all the those ideas in your little head.” 

“So how about we get to work on the main priorities and I can write down everything later.” I forced a chuckle.

***  
“You really know your stuff. Lookin so clean, I never would've guessed you liked to get your hands dirty.” He chuckled as I attached the valve to the pump.

“My dad taught me. He owned a mechanic shop and I worked the cash register. When no customers were around I’d help fix the cars.” I smiled at him and turned the valve and waited for the water to filter through from the lake surrounding Sanctuary.

“You say the oddest things.” He chuckled and looked at me confused. My face fell as I remembered that it has been 212 years since I’ve worked at my dad's shop. The water ran through and I shut off the valve, not wanting to waste any of it. 

“I.. uh.. I gotta go do something.. I’ll see ya later though.” I hurried off towards the street and ignored his question on if I’m okay. I should ask Preston for help but he was patrolling the perimeter. I slowed down when I got to the street and grabbed some wood and went into the garage. I started building a coffin and a cross. It was a couple hours into the morning when I was done. I felt numb the entire time, not wanting to let it out until he was properly buried. I checked my pip boy ‘4:36 am’ I sighed and opened the garage door. I tried to pick up the coffin but it was to heavy. I let out an angry squeak and started to pull it out of the house. I could hear two pairs of footsteps coming towards me as I pulled the coffin onto my driveway. I shut the garage door and turned to continue taking it up the hill. Preston and Sturges were standing by the coffin and looking at me confused.

“You need a hand?” Sturges said, his voice was so kind. I stared at the coffin for a while. It would probably take me hours to dig the grave, pull Nate out of the vault and into the coffin, and burring. It would probably be past noon when I’d get back home. I sighed and nodded my head.

“Thank you. I’d probably be out all day without you guy’s help..” I went to grab the shovels and the cross and started walking towards the vault when they picked up the coffin. We walked in silence before I stopped near the cliff overlooking Sanctuary and started digging. “It should be about 6 feet to keep the animals away from him.” I said as I saw Sturges pick up the other shovel. Preston stand guard, making sure nothing came at us.

“Who are we burying, if you don't mind me askin?” Sturges said when we were at about 3 feet.

“Nate, my husband…. He was shot when these people tried to take Shuan from him because he didn’t want to let go.” My voice cracked as I held back the tears.

When we were done he helped me up so I could get out before he climbed out. He looked a little over 6 ft so he could get out easily. 

“Where is Nate?” Preston said as I walked to the trailer that held the control panel and plugged in the pip boy. I walked over to the platform, motioning them to follow. My heart sunk lower the closer we got to Nate. We walked into the room he was in and Preston and Sturges looked around.

“So you weren't lying? I’m sorry for doubting you.” Preston was the first to speak up. My pod was still open and he was looking inside it. He turned his head to look at me and I nodded. I didn’t want to open Nate’s and see him, it would mean it’s real. Burying him would mean that he was actually dead. The thought made the tears in my eyes threaten to fall and my nose burn from more than just the cold. I reached a shaky hand towards the lever. Sturges put his hand on my shoulder and I closed my eyes and pulled the lever. The pod door made a hissing sound as the air rushed into the tank as it opened and I heard Preston mutter ‘damn’ under his breathe.

I opened my eyes and looked at Nate. His blood was frozen to his forehead and he had a look of concern on his face. I touched his hand and took in a sharp breath at the coldness of his skin. I felt the even colder metal of his ring under my fingers and I slid it off his hand and put it in my breast pocket. A cold, wet, tear fell down my cheek as Struges picked Nate up like he was a feather and not 190 pounds of almost pure muscle. Preston stood beside me and Sturges headed back up to the surface.

“Do you need some time alone?” He put a hand on my shoulder.

“Not yet… I need to bury him.” I said and we headed back to the surface. We stayed quiet as Sturges laid Nate into the casket that was already in the ground. I grabbed a shovel after he nailed it shut and crawled out and we started to fill it up again, when we were done she I down next to Nate’s grave. “Thank you guys. It would've taken me all night without your help.” I looked up at them when Preston put his hand on my shoulder.

“If you need someone to talk to, just look for us.” He said before leaving. Sturges sat next to me and looked at the grave.

“Wanna tell me about him?” He asked, looking back up at me.

“Our dad’s were best friends since they were kids and we became friends. Him and his sister, Melody, were my best friends.They were identical twins. He was always there for me. When someone would bully me, he would stand up for me. When someone broke my heart, he was my shoulder to cry on. When my parents were going threw their divorce and a custody battle, he was there to help me.” I coughed to try to get my voice to stop cracking.

“We got married at 20, when he got the letter that he was being deployed. We sent letters to each other every week. Every time he got back we’d drink a little and curl up and watch Cinderella. He’d always ask why the prince didn’t remember her face or why everything she was wearing changed back except her shoes. I would just laugh and say some bullshit reason.” She felt tears fall down her face and onto her hands. She leaned onto his shoulder and he rubbed her arm in a soothing motion.

“We’re from Quincy too. I think I know the red rocket you were talking about. There’s a group called the Atom Cat’s there now. They’re nice so they’d probably let you chill there if you want.” Sturges said. She nodded, sleep pulling at her.

“I will.”


	2. Chapter 2

Aria Arietti's POV

It’s been almost a week since all that happened. I have helped repair houses and sloppily patch the furniture. I had been made General of the Minutemen and notified everyone that they can’t live in my house without my permission. Even though I had fixed up the other houses, mine still remains untouched and I’ve been sleeping on the living room couch with a sleeping bag as a blanket. Nate’s ring now hangs around her neck on the chain that holds his dog tags and they always hide under my shirt so they don’t get damaged.

I got up and headed over to the workshop across the street. Sturges was cleaning up the tools and didn’t notice as I quietly walked over to him..

“Hey Sturg.” I laughed as he jumped. He turned to me and put his hand on his chest.

“You could give a man a heart attack by doing that.” He said as he smiled down at me.

“Sorry, I’ve come up with some more ideas for Sanctuary. Maybe we could put hard clear plastic in the windows to replace the glass that was once there. It would let more sunlight into the houses and then we wouldn't have to have as much electricity running when the sun is out. It could also keep out the wind and rain. I wrote a whole bunch of stuff down if you’d like to take a look at it. Mabey show Preston to get his input.” I handed a small notebook to Sturges and he took it with a smile. He opened it and looked at the ideas.

“Sewing two twin mattresses together for double beds, a library, a bar, a school for when kids join the settlement, a clinic. You’ve thought of just about everything didn’t you?” He said still reading all the ideas.

“There’s probably more that I’ll think of but that’s what all I have right now. I remember a hardware store being somewhere around here. I could probably go there and get some supplies.” I furrowed my brows, trying to remember where it was. “I can do that after I go to the Diamond city and look for a purple heart. Mama Murphy told me to take the long way around to find a ‘good shot in a neighborhood that's no good.’ Do you know what she’s talking about?”

“I don’t know about the good shot part but I’m guessing she’s talking about Goodneighbor. You better be careful over there, despite it being called Goodneighbor, from what I’ve heard, you're more likely to get stabbed then get a warm greeting. The place is also surrounded by ferals, super mutants, maybe even some gunners and raiders.” He said as he put the small notebook in his pocket.

“Well I’m gonna get ready to head out there, did you finish my boots and pistol?” I smiled again as he handed me my stuff.

“Careful, I sharpened the razors on the boots.” He said as I hopped onto the workbench to put them on. I smiled down at them, the silver being a sharp contrast against the toe of the black combat boots. I hopped down and hugged him.

“Thank you so much. I’ll be back soon.” I headed back into my house and packed the essentials. My pip boy said it should only take a couple hours to walk there but it may take longer since I’m planning on sneaking past everything and into the city. I made dogmeat stay and headed the long way around. 

 

***

I finally made it into Goodneighbor, my hips swaying slightly in her cut up blue jeans. A man stepped in front of me with a smirk on his face. Great. He's gonna try to get me to buy something.

“It's dangerous to go walkin around Goodneighbor without insurance.” He chuckled, crossing his arms.

I rolled my eyes “You're gonna need insurance if you keep talkin to me.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see a ghoul start making his way towards us.

“Woah, woah, woah. Time out. Someone steps through the gate for the first time, they are a guest. Lay off the extortion crap.” the ghoul said, stopping behind the bald man. I walked past the bald man, bumping his shoulder with mine. He reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back a step. “Why do you care? She aint one of us.” He said bitterly.

“No love for your mayor, Finn? Let her go.” the ghoul said, smiling to the man behind me. I turned my head and smiled at Finn.

“You better listen to your mayor Finny boy, or you're the one who will need insurance.” Finn glared at me and looked over to the mayor.

“You're goin soft Hancock-” Before he could finish his sentence I yanked my arm out of his grip and kicked him in the side, the small blades surrounding the base of my boots causing blood to pour out of the wound

“Fucking Bitch!” He pulled a gun on me but I was quicker and sent a bullet right into his jugular vein. The blood squirting onto my red low cut shirt and leather jacket and jeans as he grabbed his neck and fell to the ground.

“Damn, I like you already!” I turned to look at Hancock who was smiling at Finn's body, he looked back at me.

“Wouldn't of killed him if he hadn’t pulled a gun on me.” I stated as I wiped the blood off the leather with a rag from her bag.

“If you didn't then I would've had to make an example out of him. What's your name, sister?” He asked. I turned to look at again.

“Arietti. Is there any blood on my face?” He chuckled and wiped my cheek with his thumb, some of the powder came off with the blood.

“You’re good. So what's a beautiful girl like you doing here?” A smirk played on my red lips when I noticed he was staring at them.

“I’m told that there's a good shot here. Don’t really know what that means but apparently he can help me out.” I put my 10mm back in its holster and followed him as he walked towards the Old state house.

“You’re looking for MacCready then. From what I saw you can take care of yourself. What do you need him for?” We walked past the red door of the house and into another part of the town. I looked around, I’ve been here before but I’m still trying to get used to all the changes, and leaned against the wall that had a sign above it, ‘Third Rail’.

“I’m looking for someone. He took a couple of people from me. I’m on my way to Diamond City to find a guy with a purple heart or somethin to help me, but I was told to stop here and pick up Mr. Good Shot.” He nodded and looked at the woman who walked up beside me.

“Well MacCready should help. He’s down in the VIP room in the Third Rail.” He looked back at me. “Fahrenheit will take you show you where he is.” He nodded towards Fahrenheit who openly checked me out.

I followed her into the bar and down the steps. A woman in red sang in the far corner of the bar. “That's Magnolia.” Fahrenheit nodded her head in the singers directions. At the bar was a Mr. Handy. Fahrenheit walked and leaned onto the bar, “And this is Whitechapel Charlie. MacCready should be in the VIP lounge over there.” She pointed to the doorway behind me. I smiled at her and walked back into the room. There were three men arguing when I walked in. The two larger guys were threatening the smaller one sitting in the chair. I seriously hope MacCready is the smaller one. The others just look like assholes.

“Incase you haven't heard, I’ve left the gunners for good.” The man I assumed to be MacCready stood up out of the chair.

“But you’re still taking jobs in the Commonwealth. That isn’t going to work for us.” The taller man said. I leaned against the doorway and watched the three interact with each other, lighting a Cigarette and casually blowing out smoke rings, cause why not.

“I don't take orders from you. Not anymore. So why don’t you take your girlfriend and walk out of here while you still can.” MacCready said, gesturing his head towards the third man.

“What? Winlock, tell me we don’t have to listen to this shit.” The third man said, looking at Winlock.

“Listen up, MacCready. The only reason we haven’t filled your body full of bullets is that we don’t want a war with Good neighbor. See, we respect other people’s boundaries. We know how to play the game. It’s something you never learned.” Winlock spat his name. I liked this MacCready guy already, sassy, not willing to put up with people's shit.

“Glad to have disappointed you.” Sarcasm was dripping off of every word he spoke. Gosh I couldn't even count how many times I’ve said that to my mother and ex’s on both hands.

Winlock laughed, “You can play tough guy all you want, but if we hear you’re still operating inside Gunner territory, all bets are off. You got that?”

“You finished?”

“Yeah. We’re finished. Come on, Barnes.” Winlock and Barnes started walking towards the doorway. Their eyes landed on me.

“Hey, whats a dame like you doing here all by yourself? You lookin for a real man?” Barnes ask. His eyes raked over me. I looked up at him with annoyance showing in my eyes.

“What makes you think I’m alone?” I smirked. My green eyes darting over to MacCready before landing back on the two ass’s infront of me. “And yea, I’m lookin for a real man. That's why I’m not lookin for you.” I pushed past them and walked over to MacCready. I felt Winlock grab my arm and smirked, turning my head to look at him. “Now Now, you don’t wanna end up like lil’ ol’ Finn do ya? He aint doin much breathing now, with him being dead and all that.” I yanked my arm away and walked over and sat on the couch next to MacCready, watching them leave before turning to look at him.

“Look if you're here preaching about the atom or looking for a friend, You’ve got the wrong guy. If you're looking for a hired gun then you’ve come to the right place.” He said.

“I know MacCready, that's why I’m here. I need a good shot, and from what I've heard, you're the best. So what's the price?” I brought my boot up and picked the cloth and wiped the blood off the blades on my boots, watching him watch me out the corner of my eye.

“250 caps. No room for negotiations” He said.

“There’s always room, and since I need some caps to buy a room and eat you’re gonna take 200 and help me on a man hunt.” I crossed my legs and fully looked at him.

“Sure, hard to get any business when people find out I used to run with the gunners anyway.” I nodded and got up, digging into my bag and tossing him two small bags of caps.

“There's a hundred in each of them. You can count if you want or you can take my word.” he started counting. He stopped and looked back at me.

“How do I know I won't end up with a bullet in my back?” He narrowed his eyes at me. I stood up and put my sack over my shoulder, smirking.

“You don’t, that's part of the risk right? Now I’m thirst and it's been a long week. You want a drink? I’m payin.” I started walking towards the bar and heard him following behind. I sat next to Fahrenheit and the Mr. Handy came over. “A Nuka-cola and a half glass of vodka for me and what do you want?” I turned to look at MacCready as he sat next to me.

“A beer is fine.” he said.

“And a beer for him, please.” I said and fished the honey and some caps out of my pack. Charlie went and got our drinks. I set down the caps for it and poured the Nuka-Cola in the glass of vodka and added some honey. I took a drink and smiled as the burning of the vodka went down my throat and leaving a taste of cola and honey on my tongue.

“So who are we looking for? I need to know who to keep my eye out for.” MacCready said.

“We’ll first we need to go to Diamond city. I’m looking for a purple heart. Whatever that means.” I grumbled.

“You’re looking for Valentine then. He’s the detective there, helps out a lot of people. So he’s who you’re hunting down? What did he do to you?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“No, I need his help to find the man I’m hunting. I don’t know his name, I just know he has to die.” I looked at the glass in my hand, rubbing my thumb on the rim of it.

“What did he do?” He asked.

“Do you like music?” I didn’t feel like explaining it again. I really didn’t want to relive the memory.

“Yeah, nothing beats rock-and-roll.” He looked at me, furrowing his brows slightly before looking ahead of him.

“Finally! All I’ve been hearing is classical and well some of the stuff I’ve heard on diamond city’s radio has some good stuff. ” I smiled a little, finally looking up at him. “Arietti, My names Arietti, by the way. I think it's good for an employee to know the name of their employer.” I took another drink. He hummed a response. I finished the rest of my drink and said bye to Fahrenheit before getting off the stool. “Imma get some sleep. We’re leaving early tomorrow so I suggest you get some to.” I said and waited for him to get off the stool before heading out of the bar and over to the Hotel. I walked in and headed towards the front desk. The woman sitting behind it was reading a book and looked up at us when MacCready stood beside me.

“10 caps, keep it down though. I don’t wanna have to listen to the two of you. These walls are thin and the sound carries.” The woman sat up and grabbed a key.

“No.. um. Actually we need two rooms…” My face heated up, I always got this way when people talked about sexual stuff. Nate would always wrap his arm around my shoulders and tease me about it. He wasn’t here to do that anymore and the memory of it made my heart hurt. I miss him so much. The ghoul looked her over.

“You’re the chick that killed Finn right?” I nodded.

“I wouldn't of if he-”

“Yeah, yeah. You saved Hancock the trouble of doing it himself. Your rooms are free. Courtesy of the Mayor himself. He also wants you to see him before you leave.”

“Oh, Well I’ll have to thank him for that tomorrow.” I said and took the keys off the counter, handing MacCready his keys and went up to the third floor, I stopped for a second when the memory of her first visit here came into mind. It was Their senior prom and they were hanging out with their friends. Not wanting to drive home because someone had spiked the punch. 

We went into our rooms and I set my bag down on the couch. I grabbed my night shorts and tee and changed into them. I sat the 10mm and the pip boy on the nightstand and headed over to the bathroom. I washed my makeup off and got the blood off my chest and out of my hair. I pulled out the bandana in it and let my silver hair fall down to my shoulder blades. I went back to the bed and let sleep take hold of me as I curled up into a ball.

 

***

The next morning I rolled over and stared at my pip boy. _9:47_

“Shit” I muttered and got up of bed. I hit the wall between mine and MacCready's room. “Get up we're burnin daylight!” I heard him groan as I got out of bed. I started brushing my hair and teasing the front top section of hair and pinning it, giving me a small pompadour. I gathered the rest into a ponytail and tied the bandana around it. I grabbed a smaller pouch from inside my pack and started applying my makeup.

“What time is it?” MacCready said as he walked into my room, already ready to leave.

“It's almost 10. I don't know how long it will take up to get to Diamond City. We also need to stop by Hancock's. Do you know where he lives?” I said as I rushed to grab clean clothes. A red button up plaid shirt and some high waisted jeans. MacCready sat on the couch and rubbed his face in his hands.

“We should've left an hour ago. And he lived in the Old State House.” He looked up at me when I went to retrieve my pack from the couch he was on and furrowed his eyebrows “Where's your armor?” I sat on the bed and put my pip boy and boots on.

“Don’t have any.” I said as I put my gun in the holster on her thigh and looked up at him.

“You don’t have armor. How did you even get here?” He asked.

“I'm very quiet, gotta be that way to sneak out in the middle of the night to see…” Nate… I looked at him. He didn’t need to know that after one day of meeting me. I took a deep breath before continuing. “Now are you ready or not?” I got up and grabbed my pack and walked out the door.

“Yeah, yeah, let's get out of here.” I heard behind her. I hurried down the steps and out the door of the hotel.

We got to the state house and I just walked in and up the stairs. Hancock was on the couch, staring at a tin of mentats when we walked in.

“You wanted to see me?” I said as I leaned onto the doorway to his office. He narrowed his eyes at the tin.

“I think I’m getting too comfortable here. I need to get out. I was hoping you would let me come with you after you leave Diamond City.” He said. I furrowed my brows.

“Why don’t you just come with us now?” I asked. It was MacCready’s turn to look confused.

“You must be new here if you’re asking that. They don’t allow ghouls in Diamond City.” He said.

“I can disguise you or somethin.” I sat on the couch next to him and smiled at him.

“How are you gonna disguise this ugly mug?” He said.

“Well for one, you aren't ugly. And two, that bag may be small but I know how to fit a lot of things in small places.” Hancock narrowed his eyes at me.

I untied the bandana from my hair and handed it to him, my hair fell down to the tops of my breasts. I gathered it back up and put it in a braid before handing him a pair of sunglasses.

“Where’s your armor?” Hancock asked.

“She doesn’t have any. I’m surprised she isn’t dead.” MacCready said.

“You need to get some armor from Daisy before we leave.” Hancock said as he put the sunglasses and bandana on. 

“I.. um… I don’t think I can afford it…” I put on my backpack and looked back at the two men.

“Then I’ll pay. Think of it as a thanks for getting me out of here.” He said.

“I’ll pay you back when I get the money.” I said and he shook his head.

“You don’t need to pay me back.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. He nodded in response. We walked out of the door and followed him down to Daisy’s shop.

“MacCready! Those gunners didn’t give you any trouble did they?” She asked as we walked into the shop. 

“Nope, nothing I couldn’t handle myself.” He smiled at the Daisy.

“Well that’s good, Is there anything you guys need?” She asked and looked at the three of us.

“She doesn't own armor. I’m gonna head off for a couple days. I need to get out of here, ya know? Fahrenheit will be in charge until I get back.” He said as Daisy grabbed some armor and put it on the counter.

“Don’t get them killed, okay?” She said, looking at me as Hancock set down some caps for the armor. 

“I’ll try not to.” I replied and put on the leather armor.  
We walked out the gates and made our way to Diamond city.


	3. Chapter 3

Aria Arietti's POV

We finally got to the gates of Diamond city and ran into a girl yelling at the speaker.

“Mayor McDonough isn’t happy with your article. He told me not to let you in.”

“You can’t just kick me out. I live here!” The girl gestured to the city.

“I’m sorry Piper but I can’t let you in. Mayor's orders.” The man said. Piper huffed in frustration and looked over at us. She smiled and waved us over. I walked over and she leaned closer to me.

“You want in to Diamond City, right?” She whispered. I nodded and her smile turned into a smirk as she leaned away. “Oh, what’s that? You're a trader? You have enough supplies to last the city months? You hear that Danny? Now are you gonna let us in or not?” She said louder. I stifled a laugh.

“Fine.” Danny sighed and the gates started to open. She looked me over and her eyes went wide.

“You’re that Vault Dweller, aren't you? Just got out and already a leader. Do you mind doing an interview?” She asked as we walked into the City.

“Uh, can I do it later? I’m looking for Valentine.” I said. She never answered because the Mayor was standing there, waiting.

“I told them you weren't allowed back in the City. Your article has caused casos! I want you to tell everyone that it isn't true.” He said.

“Can it McDonough. I’m giving people the truth. I never publish something without the proper evidence.” She narrowed her eyes at him. He looked at me and looked a little shocked.

“I’m sorry you had to witness that. What can I do for you?” He asked.

“I’m looking for Valentine and any information regarding a missing person.” I told him, putting my gun away.

“A missing person? You gonna have anyone help her McDonough? Or are you just gonna treat this like every other missing persons case?” Piper crossed her arms in front of her.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Valentine’s agency is behind the market. Neon purple sign, you can’t miss it.” He informed me.

“Thank you.” I said and began to walk away. I looked back at the two men I brought with me and MacCready looked a little annoyed at the hold up while I couldn't tell what hancock was feeling because of all the crap covering his face. I saw piper run up to me and she started walking beside me while the guys walked behind us.

“There’s a lot of people going missing these days. I can try to help if you want.” She said.

“Well, how many babies go through here?” I looked at her.

“Babies? Um… none have recently came through here. There are some kids running around though.” She frowned a little. “The Institute has been taking people and replacing them with synths but I don’t think they would take a baby.” I looked forward and nodded.

“So I’ve been told.” I followed her to Valentine's agency and I walked in.

“I’m sorry, the detective is not here.” A woman said.

“When will he be back? I need his help looking for someone.” I told her.

“Right, I’m sorry. I’m Ellie, his assistant. He’s been kidnapped I think.” She turned and frowned at me.

“Where is he? I can go get him for you.” I said.

“Oh that would be wonderful. He went to Park Street Station. Please get him back.” She wrote down the coordinates. 

“Don’t worry. I will.” I said as I entered the coordinates into my pip boy. I walked out of the agency and looked at the three of them.

“So what happened?” Hancock asked.

“It’s never going to be easy is it? He’s been held hostage up in Park Street Station. We’re going to go get him.” I informed them. “You can join us if you want, Piper.”

“Uh, that place is full of ferals.” She told me.

“And it has Valentine. The only reason I’m here is because I need to find..” I took a deep breath. “We need to get him. None of you have to come with me. Well except you MacCready. I hired you for this shit.” He nodded.

“Well, If nick's in trouble I’m gonna help him. What kind of friend would I be?” Hancock said. Piper nodded her head in agreement and we went off to rescue the detective. We went down into the station. I felt a chill go up my spin as we went threw the station. A zombie like thing started running at me and I brought my gun up, putting a bullet between its eyes. More started coming at us, awoken from the noise. These are ferals? They were once people. People I probably knew or walked by at some point in my life. The worst thing is, some of them had name tags. Names I remembered. I felt my insides turn and heard a growl coming at my side. When I went to shoot it, it’s head exploded and the rotting brain got all over my shirt. I shot another as it came up behind Piper. Soon all of them were dead and we were at the vault entrance. I started to feel nasious as we entered and we were instantly being shot at.

“It's never fucking easy is it?” I asked Piper, gaining a small laugh in response. We made our way thru the vault and I kept having to stop and make sure I didn’t throw up. After the 10th time of me doing this Hancock seemed to have had enough of it.

“Does that thing have a geiger counter?” He asked, pointing to my pip boy. I nodded and tried to hold back another wave of nausea. He grabbed my arm and looked at my stats. “Take some Rad-away. You're almost 25% radiation.” He looked sighed and I took some rad-away. The radiation went away but my nausea didn’t. I finally threw everything up.

“Fucking hell.” I whispered.

“That should of gotten rid of the nausea.” MacCready said.

“It's not because of the Radiation.” I told them as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Glad that I have a lip stain on. “I… Let’s just keep moving. We should be close.” I walked past them, ignoring their confused looked. They followed me into the next room and I took down a guy who was looking in a glass window. 

“You better get me out of here before they notice muscle for brains isn't coming back.” A man said. I went up the stairs and looked at the terminal. That voice, Valentine… It seemed so familiar.

“Is anyone good at those thing?” I asked. Piper came up and unlocked it. We went in and Hancock went up to him.

“Nick, glad you're still in one piece.” He said. Nick Valentine? Then it clicked. He worked on Melody’s murder.

“Yea, now let's get out of here before that changes.” His yellow eyes looked at me and his eyebrows raise a little. We walked out and went up a staircase. We went thru a door and Nick walked up to a couple.

“Not so fast there, Nicky. You and your little pals think that you can just walk in here and kill my guys? Not gonna happen.” The man said, holding up a tommy gun. He looked like a stereotypical mobster. It was ridiculous and I tried not to laugh. 

“I told you we should've killed him!” The woman beside him screeched.

“Listen, Malone. You wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for your two timing gal over there.” Nick said.

“Nobody talks about my gal like that.” He raised his voice a little.

“Malone? Know any relation to the Arietis, Like Antonio Arietti?” I stepped up next to Nick and raised an eyebrow at the man in front of us. He furrowed his brows for a moments before he looked confused.

“He’s one of my great uncles. How would you know?” He pointed his gun at me.

“Names Aria Arietti.” I said.

“Not possible. You’d be over 200 years old.” He narrowed his eyes at me.

“I’m named after her.” I lied, Nick seemed to have caught that because he smirked. “You wouldn’t want to kill family now would you? Let me and my friends out of here. And loose the broad, she’s causing you nothin but trouble, cuz.” I nodded my head towards the girl, who huffed in annoyance. 

“Fine, get out of here. You two, Darla.” He said. She started arguing with him as we left the vault. 

We got to the gates of diamond city and I turned to look at Nick. “I’m sorry I haven't properly introduced myself. You probably know me as Aria Williams.” I put my gun on my back and held out my hand, recognition flashed across his face and he smiled.

“I knew I knew you from somewhere. You look good for your age.” He said as we started walking into the alley leading to his agency. Hancock and MacCready looked at me confused.

“Do you guys mind waiting out here while I talk to him?” I asked. They nodded and me and Nick went inside.

“Oh, Nick! You made it! Thank you so much..”

“Aria.” Nick said.

“Thank you so much Aria. You saved Nick and my job.” She said as she handed me a bag of caps.

“I can’t take this.” I told her and tried to hand it back, she pushed my hand back to me and shook her head.

“Just put it in your bag.” She laughed. I put it in my bag and turned to Nick.

“Sit down, tell me what I can do for you.” He said as he sat in his chair. I sat across from him and set my bag on the ground next to me.

“Do you remember Melody Smith’s case?” I asked him. He opened a drawer and looked in it before putting a file on the desk.

“Melody Smith, She was murdered two months before the bombs drop. Her eldest son found her after her husband fled the scene. Two boys stayed with a Mr and Mrs Williams. You and your husband adopted the youngest…. Shaun. And his brother Jackson went to his dad's.” He read it and looked back up at me.

“Yeah. We were put in Cryopods when the bombs dropped. Shaun has been kidnapped. He’s still 3 months old.” I told him.

“Do you know who kidnapped him?” He asked, shutting the file. I dug around in my bag and pulled out my sketchbook. 

“I drew one of them, the only one who had their face shown. The other was a woman, I think. They were wearing a white hazmat suit.” I told him as I handed him the book. The man's face was smirking up off the page.

“Ellie grab kellogg's film-.” He turned to her and she gave him a file. He smiled at her. “Thank’s” He opened it. “He owned a house here in Diamond City. He has been seen with a boy, looks about 10 years old. He hasn’t been in there in a while though.” He read.

“That could be Shaun. I don’t know how long I was out the second time. I was asleep for 210 years.” I said.

“It could be but you don’t want to give your hopes up. Go up there and check it out.” He said as he wrote down directions.

“Thank you, I’ll come back and tell you what I find.” I smiled at him and grabbed the paper, running out the door without my bag. I ran past the guys and heard them running to catch up behind me.

“Wait, What’s going on.” MacCready asked as we ran up the stairs and across the platform to the lonely house. I ignored him and dropped to my knee at the door, pulling a bobby pin from my hair and unlocked the door. I grabbed my gun and looked inside. It was a lot smaller on the inside than it looked on the outside.

“You know it’s not okay to just break into someone's house.” Hancock said.

“It is when the baster has your son.” I snapped. I took a breath and put my gun away. I walked in and looked at him, they both looked a little taken back by my sudden outburst. “I’m sorry, Hancock. The man who owns this house has done some fucked up shit to me.” I turned away as I felt tears prick my eyes. I started looking around the house for something, anything to tell me where they went. I went over to the desk and saw a red button.

“Do houses usually have red buttons in them?” I looked up at the two men who stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. They shook their heads and raised their guns. I pressed the button and the wall beside the door opened. Hancock looked in there and lowered his gun. Nothing was in there. I walked in there and looked around. Cigars were laying on the side table. I grabbed on and looked at it.

“It’s used. Holy shit.” I started laughing.

“You’re happy that you have a used Cigar?” MacCready asked, looking at me as if I had grown two heads.

“I have a dog, a german sheppard. Police used to use them for their good sense of smell. I have a chance of finding him. Of course I’m happy.” I said as I grabbed some more and went out the door. I headed down to Nick's. I smiled at him and told him about my plan.

“Do you need any help?” He asked.

“I have Hancock and MacCready watching my back. I think I have it covered. Plus Kellogg has an angry Sicilian coming after him. I think he should be the one wanting help.” I let out a small laugh as I put the things in my bag. I stood up and put it over my shoulder. “Thank you so much, Nick. I’ll be coming back later.” I walked out and looked up at the sky. It was getting dark.

“You guys wanna rent some rooms here?” I asked them.

“Uh, yeah. There’s the dugout in. I think that's the only place that has rooms.” MacCready said, putting out his cigarette. I pulled a bag of caps out and handed it to them.

“You two, go get rooms. I’m gonna go talk to Piper now that I have time.” I told them.

“You sure? You hired me to watch your back. How do you know she isn’t gonna put one in yours?” He asked.

“I’m not going there unarmed. Now go.” I waved my hands and they left. I went over to Piper’s and saw her sitting outside.

“I have time for the interview now. If you still want to do it.” I said as I approached her. She hopped up and smiled.

“Absolutely. Do you want to go inside or?” 

“Wanna go to the Dugout? I wanna put my stuff in my room and have a drink. Maybe something to eat. She nodded and lead me over to the dugout. I walked up to the man by the rooms and he smiled at me.

“You’re with two men, yes?” He asked.

“Uh, yeah. Tall dirty looking kid and a short pirate man.” I told him

“Only have one room. Room one.” He said, pointing to the door with a white 1 painted on it. I’m going to have to share a room with them? 

“Thank you.” I said as I walked to the door. I opened it and set my bag down, the room was empty. I went back out and sat next to Piper at the bar.

“So what was it like? Inside the vault I mean.” She said as I ordered a drink and some food.

“It was cold. They put us in cryogenic chambers after the bombs fell.” She looked at me with wide eyes.

“The bombs? That was… You're over 200 years old?” She asked as she wrote everything down.

“I’m 235. I was 25 when they fell. Cryopods can do wonders to your skin.” That earned me a smile from here. I felt weird for not being sad about Nate’s death anymore. It had only been a week but I had already almost completely over it. “You have a very pretty smile.” I told her, making her smile more.

“So, um, What… What is your opinion on the world now?” She asked. 

“Its nice. Not as nice as before though. It give me hope, makes me happy to know that some people are trying to rebuild what once was.” I said.

“So you’re looking for…” 

“My son.” I finished her sentence.

“Wow… I…” She frowned at the food in front of her. “So, you know that people have been getting kidnapped. What do you have to say to their loved ones?” 

“Don’t give up. Ever. They are out there somewhere and some day you will find them.” I respond as I finished my food and ordered a refil of my drink.Vodka this time. Piper put her pad and pen away and looked at me.

“So you’re married?” I looked at her and noticed that she was looking at my ring.

“I was. He died. I need to be more drunk to open up about this.” I informed her.

“Do you want to?” I smiled and ordered us some more drinks, downing the vodka as it was set in front of me. She laughed and started drinking. Slowly I started to feel warmed and found things more funny. I wanted to talk about things now.

“So, your husband.” She said,

“I’m not sad about it anymore. I’ve been out a week and I should be sad. But I’m not. I wanna kiss someone actually.” I slurred and laughed a little. She shook her head and looked around.

“Aren't those the guys you came here with?” She looked back at me and pointed behind me and to the couch. Hancock was walking to the room and MacCready was on the couch.

“Yepp.” I popped the p at the end.

“Would you kiss them?” She whispered.

“I don't know. MacCready looks like a kid. Plus I hired him to watch my back, not to be my friend.” MacCready turned and looked at us as I mentioned his name. I waved him over and he hesitantly walked over to us.

“Yeah, boss?” He asked. I put a hand on his shoulder.

“How old are you?” I asked him.

“Uh… 22 why does that matter.” He furrowed his brows. I turned my head to look at piper.

“See, I am 213 years older than him. He’s a kid and I should be dead.” I slurred.

“Your drunk boss.” He said, a little annoyed.

“Yes I am. I deserve to get drunk though. I am a bitch, you know.” I looked back at him.

“I don’t know you well enough to comment on that.” He said.

“Aria, you aren't a bitch. So what? You're Not sad anymore.” She giggled.

“I am!” I lifted up my hand with the ring on it and took it off. “I’ve been out of that vault for a week. For me he died a week ago. And I’m already over it. Now tell me that I’m not a bitch.” I looked MacCready in the eyes, and he looked a little shocked. “I mean it could've been years since I watched him get a bullet between the eyes. But I should be sad right?” He shrugged.

“Everyone deals with death differently.”

“Well, He did have a tendency to get violent but that was my fault, ya know?” I watched as Piper's eyes go wide.

“It’s not you fault.” Piper put her hand on my cheek. “You're so beautiful, isn't she beautiful?” Piper looked back at an uncomfortable MacCready. 

“Awww, pipes.” I said. I waved Vadim over.

“No more drinks.” He said. I pouted at him and he took the glasses from in front of us. He looked up at MacCready. “Get her some sleep.”

“Come on, boss.” MacCready said. I shook my head and almost fell off my stool. He caught me before I fell off. 

“My hero.” I giggled. He laughed a little and helped me off the stool. Piper was less drunk than I was so she was fine getting off the stool, just a little tipsy. “You have a cute butt.” I hollered at her as she got her coat. I laughed as her face turned red.

“Okay, time for bed.” He said as he opened the door. Hancock was on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

“But I wanna squeeze her butt.” I whined. Hancock looked up at us with a smile. “I bet you have a cute butt.” I pointed at Hancock, he laughed at me and shook his head.

“How much has she drank?” He asked MacCready.

“Enough to tell me about her husband. Stuff she probably wouldn't want to talk about sober.” He said as I fell onto the bed. I moved around and sat up against the wall.

“Hancock, come here.” I patted the spot beside me. He looked at MacCready and then got up and sat beside me. MacCready sat on the couch and got comfortable.

“I’m old.” I told him. “I'm so old that I should be dead.” He looked at me confused.

“You look pretty young to me.” He said, his eyes going down to my cleavage that was peeking out of the button up shirt. I had them unbuttoned to show a lot of my boobs. I loved showing off my body.

“You know how vaults do experiments on people?” I asked him, he just looked at me confused. “Well they do. They put us in cryopods. I watched the bombs fall.” I told him, he looked at MacCready who was just looking at us. I leaned onto Hancock's shoulder.

“I am the original Aria Arietti. Wife of an army soldier who was an alcoholic.”

“That must of been a fun life.” He said.

“He was my best friend. We had been friends since we were kids. We got married and he went off to war. Came back and started drinking whenever he could and correct me when I made mistakes.” I closed my eyes and felt him tense.

 

***  
Hancock’s POV

“Correct you?” I asked. Receiving a soft snore in response. I looked back at MacCready and he made a slapping gesture. Why would anyone beat their wives? The one they're supposed to love?

“It explains why she isn’t moping around.” MacCready said. I moved her to lay down, her shirt rose up a little, revealing the circular scars on her back.

“It seems like he didn’t just smack her around.” I informed him as I lifted up the back of her shirt more. Cigar burns trailed up her spine. MacCready came over and looked at them.

“I shouldn’t be getting to know her.” He said. “She’s just my boss.” 

“Looks like you're learning more about her though.” I touched the scars and looked to see if she was waking up, she was just drooling onto the mattress. He sighed and sat back. “What would she be moping about?”

“Her husband is dead, she watched him died. She only got out of the vault a little over a week ago apparently.” He explained.  
“Damn, I guess being abused can erase years of friendship.” I frowned at her sleeping frame. We moved off the bed and I pulled the blanket to cover her. MacCready stretched out on the couch and I rolled out a bedroll.


	4. Chapter 4

Aria’s POV

I woke up with a killer headache. I rolled over and misjudged the distance between me and the edge of the bed, I realized that as I fell to the floor with a loud thud, nicking my leg with my boots. Why didn’t I take my boots off? I groaned in pain as I rolled off my arm.

“Shit, you okay?” I heard Hancock's voice at the end of the bed.

“Yeah, just landed on my arm wrong.” I said as I sat up and took off my boots. “Hand me a rag or something. I need to clean this.” I looked up at him. He got up and went to the bathroom. He came back with a half wet rag and watched as I tended to the cut.

“What happened?” MacCready asked in a voice made husky from sleep. 

“Fell off bed, landed on arm wrong, cut myself with my boot.” I quickly explained. “So how much did I tell you?” 

“What?” Hancock asked.

“I drank vodka. I know it makes me blab about things. So what did I tell you guys?” I looked up at the two.

“Uh, you told us about your husband, the vault, and how you're not sad anymore.” Hancock looked at the mattress next to me.

“Oh, that it?” I said, a little surprised that I didn’t talk about more things.

“You also said that him that he had a cute butt.” MacCready said. I felt my face heat up a little.

“I’m sorry, Hancock.” I looked up at him. He laughed.

“Don’t worry, Aria. It’s nice getting compliments.”

“If you’re wanting to call me by my first name then you gotta tell me yours.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “And get me something to get rid of this headache. Coffee would be nice.” 

“It’s John.” He smiled at me. “And coffee? I don’t think people use that anymore.” 

“You don’t use coffee. You drink it. It’s good for hangovers.” I explained as he grabbed med-x out of my bag and handed it to me. I stuck it in my arm and sighed as the drug spread threw out my body, the headache disappearing. “John.” I tested the name out and smiled at him. “Simple, I like it. What about you MacCready. Wanna tell me your name or you gonna stick with Arietti?”

“I’m gonna stick with boss. If you want me to call you anything else just tell me.” He said as he sat up and put his duster on.

“Anything other than Williams.” I muttered as I looked at the pip boy. The pink light blinding me as it shone in the partially dark room. “Fuck” I hissed. I squinted at it until my pupils adjusted. “It's almost 8 am. We should get ready to head to Sanctuary.” I got up and straightened out my pants. I grabbed my bag and went into the bathroom. I turned on the radio and smiled as ‘Anything goes’ started playing. I hummed along as I got changed and washed my makeup off to brush my teeth. I finished getting ready by putting my makeup on and taming my wavy hair in a pony tail. I tied a bandana around it and pinned it in place with some of the bobby pins I had. I grabbed my bag and left the bathroom. Han- John and MacCready were sitting there waiting for me. We all walked out of the bar and headed out of Diamond City. The air was getting colder. I looked at my pip boy and huffed. It’s getting close to winter, my least favorite seasons of all. John was walking on my left and MacCready on my right as we walked out the gates of the city. When we got far enough away John took off the glasses and bandana. I tied the bandana to my bag and put the glasses on, lighting a cigarette and putting it between my red lips. I took it out and looked around. 

“So, John. Are you pre-war or did you try to become a superhero?” I asked him, the smoke blowing out of my mouth as I spoke.

“Neither, There was this drug. The high was amazing and, well, I’m living with the side effects.” He laughed a little.

“Ah, I used to be like that. Constantly wanting to get high, wanting something stronger. Had a friend, Ed. He got me off that crap before Nate found out about it. Ed was scared. Nate loved me, he just.. He saw so much and it changed him.” I looked down at the cigarett. I heard MacCready bark a small laugh.

“Yeah, loved you. Right.” He muttered. I felt a nagging part of my brain tell me that he was right but I pushed it back. Nate loved me. He always made sure I knew that after he got sober.

“So what did you do? When Nate was away?” Hancock asked.

“I used to be in musicals. Singing and dancing. I had a job too. I helped people buy magazines and stuff like that.” I tried to keep it vague. They'd probably look at me differently if they found out I was a model and f-

 

My thoughts were interrupted by a bullet whizzing past my head. I dropped down behind a mailbox and readied my shotgun. MacCready had gone to a cement road block and John was behind the building that was beside me. I looked around the mailbox and shot a few riders as they got to close. 

“How many are out there?” I asked MacCready.

“Use your eyes!” He said. I huffed and pulled my rifle scope off my belt and looked thru it. I'm so glad I asked sturges to make my glasses into a scope when the frame broke. Im also glad he reminded me of them. I counted 10 raiders, the number was quickly shortening as MacCready picked them off and put it back on its clip. I switched to my pistol and snuck closer. I hid in a building and looked around. I could see them all now. I took out as many as I could from that location. 

I felt a sharp pain in my side and doubled over, shouting out in pain. I looked over and saw a raider laughing at me. I took a molotov out of the holder on my leg armor and threw it at them. The flames erupted and set off the grenade they were about to throw my way. I fell back against the wall and tried to hear my voice over the ringing. I saw John and MacCready run over and kneel beside me. I could see their mouths moving everything was muffled by the ringing.

“Med kits in my bag. Should have everything you need.” I told him. I couldn’t tell if I was shouting or whispering. I grabbed John’s hand and he helped me up. MacCready got my med-kit out of my bag and pulled my shirt away from the wound and I leaned my head onto John’s shoulder and grabbing his coat.

“Fucking hell.” I growled as MacCready slid the tweezers into the hole and tried to find the bullet.

“This is worse than the time I broke my finger.” I tried to keep myself still.

“This wouldn’t of happened if you didn’t run ahead.” MacCready looked up at me before quickly looking back at my wound.

“I wouldn’t of had to run ahead if raiders didn’t break my glasses as I tried to help one of my settlements.” I hissed as he started pulling the bullet out, my muscles wanting to hold onto it. He stuck me with the stimpack and put everything away. “I can’t see that far ahead that’s why I asked you how many there were.” He didn’t say anything, he just picked my bag up and put it over his shoulder. I let go of John’s coat and scratched the new scar, wincing a little from the sensitivity of it.

“I can carry that, you know. I’m not helpless.”

“It’ll hurt, boss.” He said as he set my bag down. I grabbed it and put it on, tensing my jaw as pain shot up my side but didn’t say anything. I looked at the map on my pip boy, we were still pretty far from sanctuary. I sighed and motioned for them to follow me. We walked a little ways down before I heard hissing. The feral ghouls were running towards the police station and someone was shooting at them. I walked over and climbed up on the wall and shot at the ferals. Three people were at the doors of the station. One was sitting against the wall and a girl was tending to him. A man in power armor was shooting a laser rifle at the ferals. When they stopped running in the power armor dude looked up at me.

“Thank’s for the assistance but what are you doing here civilian?” He asked.

“Just thought you could use a hand.” I said as I hopped down and walked up to him.

“Thank you, civilian. Are you from a local settlement?” He put his gun away but I kept mine out, just in case.

“I helped you fight those ferals. Do you really want to play 20 questions?” I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see John and MacCready walking up to us. Mr. Power raised his gun and I pointed mine at him. “They’re friendly, you shoot them then it will be the last thing you do.” He lowered his weapon and looked a little irritated.

“You shouldn’t be threatening a soldier.” He said

“Then you shouldn't be pointing a gun at my friends.” I snapped back. They still have soldiers?

“I’m sorry. If I seem to be a little suspicious it's because our mission here hasn't been going well. Since the moment we arrived to the commonwealth we have been constantly under fire.” He looked back at me.

“Did you expect a fruit basket and a housewarming party?” I asked, gaining a confused look from him.

“Uh, no. If you want to continue helping then we could use the extra fire power.” His face turned serious again.

“Who are you guys?”

“I’m Paladin Danse of the Brotherhood of Steel.” He said. I heard MacCready let out an annoyed huff.

“Would we get paid?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“So you’re a mercenary? On that note I will pay you. So will you help?” He asked, a flash of surprise went across his face.

“We’ll think about it. We’re currently on a job right now.” I nodded a goodbye and walked away, MacCready and John following behind.

“You’re really thinking about working with one of those assholes?” MacCready said as we crossed the bridge.

“I don’t know. I kinda just wanted to know if he’d pay.” I looked at him and shrugged. He shook his head we made our way up to Sanctuary. We passed by the red rocket and dogmeat ran up to me, jumping up on me with muddy paws. I scratched behind his ear and kissed his nose.

“Did you miss me buddy? What are you doing out here?” I asked and looked around the shop. Sturges came out of the garage and smiled at me. Dogmeat ran around my legs as I walked over to him.

“He was keeping me company while I worked on the shop. We could use it in some way.” He said. I looked in the garage and saw my power armor. It had been modded and painted pink and white.

“Really? You didn’t paint my power armor to look like a power ranger?” I laughed. John and MacCready walked in and sat on the couch by the workbench.

“I may have done that too. Codsworth wanted help cleaning up your house and I found a few comic books. I saw power ranger and thought of power armor.” He smiled down at me. I smiled back and looked at the two guys on the couch.

“Sturges, this is John Hancock and MacCready. John’s the mayor of Goodneighbor and MacCready’s the good shot Mama was talking about. We need to take Dogmeat for a little bit.” I looked back at him. “I’ll bring him back though.” 

“As long as you come back with him.” He said as I went over to look at my power armor.

“What kind of general would I be if I just abandoned you guys?” I asked. He detailed my power armor in silver. John stood beside me and looked at it. “Hey now my armor matches my hair.”

“That was the plan. I had some free time while we waited for the plastic to melt and dry. There isn’t that many things to do here during free times when we haven't built the bar yet.” He said. I turned to look at him.

“Did you bring my weapons down here or are they still in my house?”

“They’re still in your house. Preston probably wants to update you on everything that went on the past couple of days. He even told Marcy to lighten up on you.” He nodded his head in the direction of Sanctuary.

 

***

I shot at the wavy image of the wall, trying to find him as John and MacCready took down Kellogg's synths. I heard to last of them fall just as his stealth boy wore off. Dogmeat tackled him and held him down by his throat. I slid my brass knuckles on and walked over to him.

“Good boy.” I said to Dogmeat as he dropped Kellogg's throat. I crouched above Kellogg, almost straddling his lap, and grabbed him by his shirt collar.

“Where is he.” I demand.

“They want you to do this you know. The Institute wants you to kill me.” He chuckled.

“I will give them what they want if you don't tell me where the fuCK MY SON IS!”

“He’s in the Institute.” He said with annoyance in his voice. 

“See, that wasn't so hard now, was it? Now tell me how to get in there.” My words were sickly sweet and I smiled down at him.

“I don’t-” I punched him in the face and heard a satisfying crack.

“You took away everything I love so you better fucking tell me.” I growled. He didn’t say anything so I punched him again.

“You shot my husband.” wham, “Right in front of me.” crack, “And kidnapped my son.” wham. I pulled him up and barked a laugh in his face. “Letting me live was your biggest fucking mistake. Now tell me how to get in the institute.”

“You really think I’m g-” I stopped him by grabbing my knife from my boot and stabbing it in his crotch. “You fucking bitch! THAT WAS MY DICK!” he shouted.

“Good, then I hit my target. Tell me or you'll lose it.”

“I told him that we should've killed you. But no. For some reason he wanted you to live. I don't regret killing your husband or helping them take your baby. What I do regret is not putting a bullet between your eyes while you were trapped in that pod.”

When it was clear to me that I wasn't going to get what I needed I saw red and continuously beat his head in until someone came up and grabbed my wrist. The texture of the skin told me that it was John. I looked up and it confirmed my thought.

“I think he’s dead, sister.” He said. I looked back down at Kellogg and saw that I had cracked his skull open and there was a metal chip inside. I pulled my hand out of Johns and grabbed the chip.

“We need to get to Nick.” I said as I stood up and brushed the dirt off my knees. I looked down at the gun he dropped and picked it up. Powerful and a beautiful gun, it would be a waist just to leave it here, plus I have ammo for it. I put my 10mm in my bag and stuck the .44 in its place. We headed out and made our way to Diamond City in silence.


	5. Chapter 5

I set the chip on Nick's desk and pulled out a cigarette.

“The bastard was more metal than flesh. He that they used teleporters and that Shauns with the institute. There’s probably something he didn’t tell me.” I lit the cigarette and closed my eyes as I felt the smoke warm my chest. I blew out a smoke ring and blew the last of the smoke threw it, making it form a mushroom cloud.

“Dr. Amari could figure out something to do with this. Where did you- oh.” He turned it over and saw the excess brain matter on it.

“Let’s go over there then. I just want to get out of this damn city.” I got up off the arm of the chair and threw my pack over my shoulder.

“You should get some sleep before we go over there. You’ll end up dead if you go out there now. You look terrible.” Nick set the chip back on the desk.

“You really know how to flatter a girl, don’t ya Nicky.” I smiled at him. He was right though. I needed sleep.

“You know what I mean, Aria.” He took a bag out of the drawer and set it on the edge of the desk towards me. It clanked as it hit the desk and I looked up at him with a raised brow.

“I can’t take that, Nick. I’d owe you and owing people could get me killed.” I felt my cigarette get taken out of my hand and watched at MacCready put the almost dead butt in the ash tray. “Like him. I owe him for saving my ass multiple times.” I pointed my thumb at him. I could take care of his gunner problem to make us even. Plus the gunners hunting after him would put me in danger. And maybe I liked his smart ass remarks to random shit, not that I would ever tell him that.

“You don’t owe me anything. That’s just the bounty that was put on Kellogg's head.” He sat back in his chair. I pursed my lips for a minute and looked between him and the bag before taking it and putting it in my pocket. I am running low on caps. “I’ll go with you tomorrow. Maybe I could help with something. After all, you did save my ass.”

“Thanks, Nicky. I appreciate it.” I gave him a genuine smile and left his office.

I stopped by one of the shops and bought a pair of sunglasses before we headed into the dugout.

“Only one room available.” Yefirm said as we walked up to him. I handed him the appropriate amount of caps and headed into the empty room. I sat down and took my boots and armor off.

“Will you get some noodles?” I looked up at MacCready and threw him the bag of caps.

“Uh sure.” He caught the sack and left the room. I looked at John, he had taken off the glasses and bandana and was now smoking a cigarett. I took my sketchbook out of my bag and sat with my body facing him.

“Can I draw you? You look so relaxed and I like capturing moments like that.” I explained when he looked at me confused.

I heard someone kick the door and got up and let them in. MacCready set down the bowels of noodles and some drinks on the coffee table. I grabbed my bowl of noodles and started eating. I felt so weird, it was familiar but not something I had felt in a long time. I pushed the questions aside and focused on finished my food and watched as John and MacCready talked about random things until sleep took over.

 

***

I stepped out of the pod and just felt numb.

“Nick is upstairs, waiting for you. Don’t do anything strenuous the rest of the day. I already told Nick to make sure you don’t.” Dr. Amari said.

“Thank you Dr. Amari.” I nodded and made my way up the stairs. Nick was sitting on the couch and I walked over to him.

“Well, well, well. Did you get everything you wanted?” Nick said as soon as I opened my mouth. His voice wasn't his. It was Kellog’s. My eyes went wide as he stood up and smirked at me. “Your old friend here doesn’t like the fact that I’m taking over. But I have something I need to do and I’m sure he’ll understand.” He stepped closer to me and I stepped back, nervously tripping over my own feet. He crouched over me and wrapped his metal hand around my throat. I tried to push him off as I gasped for air.

“Nick, please.” I croaked. The hand tightened around my throat and I started to try to work my knees under his torso.

“Nick really want’s to help you. But he’s going to watch you die.” He smiled at me. My attacks were weakening and my vision blackening. I closed my eyes and relaxed, letting unconsciousness take over.

 

***  
I opened my eyes and quickly shut them as the light burned them. I reached my hand up and rubbed the bridge of my nose.

“How are you feeling, Mrs. Arietti?” I heard Dr. Amari’s voice along with clicking of keys.

“Better.” My voice came out as a whisper. I sat up and looked around. MacCready was sitting in the corner and Dr. Amari was on her computer. I clear my throat then rubbed my neck when it hurt. “Where’s Nick and John? Is Nick okay?” My voice was getting weaker the more I talked. Dr. Amari gave me a pencil and pad.

“I fixed Mr. Valentine's side effects, so he shouldn’t try to hurt you anymore.” Dr. Amari gave me a look that said she didn’t know the answers to my questions. I took out the nasal cannula and started putting on my shoes. “You may suffer from memory loss. You’re voice should be back to normal in a few days but until then, use the pencil and pad.” I nodded and grabbed the pencil and pad before walking out the door with MacCready behind me.

“Where to, boss?” He looked at the pad as I started writing.

‘I need to find, Nick. I need to make sure he’s okay.’ I walked into the state house and up the stairs. I saw Nick sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. I sat down next to him and put my hand on his shoulder, putting the pad in his lap. ‘Are you okay?’ He looked at me with a frown.

“I tried to stop him, Aria. I really did. I’m so sorry.” I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short. I've been having writers block and its just very annoying. My family is coming down this week so there won't be an update next Sunday.


	6. IMPORTANT

I'm sorry guys but I will not be continuing Silver Fox. I am not happy with how my stories have turned out and am currently working on new ones. I have a new Fallout 4, Dragon Age Inquisition, and possibly a Walking Dead and Marvel. I'm not sure if I will be making the last two public. I need to work on them more.

I aim to have my stories up before the year ends (I'm going to write 5 chapters of each before posting so I'll never be behind in posts unless something comes up) but if I fail to meet that goal then It will be late January/ early February since I will be moving and we all know how stressful that it. I am also going to try to get a job (no more fun hair colors, I'm really saddened by this) and I need to get my permit (I'm 18 and don't have a permit so you see how I need that) so I have a lot on my plate. I also need to figure out what I'm going to do for the rest of my life because we all know we can't make money on here (That would be cool though) and I have NO idea what I want to spend my life doing, morgue maybe? I'm not good at talking to people and the only people I'd be around are dead or other workers so.... still no idea.

I'm sorry if you like my stories but they aren't going in the direction I wanted them to. I'm creating new OC's and getting everything sorted out right now. I will put a new update here when I publish my new books so stick around if you're interested in them.


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